Audio interview with Alan Gussow, 1994 May 15
Scope and Contents
In this audio interview with Martica Sawin, Alan Gussow relates the circumstances of being hired by Parsons School of Design Dean Norman Boothby in 1956 to teach drawing and painting, and the transition to becoming chair of the Editorial and Fashion Illustration Department. He recalls his efforts to recruit exceptional faculty, including his role in hiring instructors such as Diane Arbus and Cipe Pineles Golden. Gussow describes the administrative... atmosphere at Parsons, and his efforts to find his own alternate career as a painter. Sawin recorded this interview with Gussow at his home in Congers, New York.
See moreDates
- 1994 May 15
Participant Biography
Alan Gussow (1931-1997) was born in Rockville Center, NY. He graduated from Middlebury College in 1952 with a degree in literature before enrolling in the Cooper Union to study painting. In 1953, Gussow became the youngest artist to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, and he consequently continued his studies at the American Academy in Rome. Returning to New York in 1955, he began teaching at Parsons School of Design and Sarah Lawrence College. Gussow eventually chaired both the Editorial and Fashion Illustration Department and the Fine Arts Department. Gussow presided over a restructuring of the Fashion illustration Department in 1960, which included the introduction of photography and fashion business, an art history workshop, and greater cooperation with the Fashion Design Department. He left Parsons in 1968 to work for the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. As a painter, he exhibited in over fifty solo shows and published several monographs. Gussow was also well-known as an environmental spokesperson, leading early efforts to reduce pollution in the Hudson River.
Container Summary
00:48:44 duration; Includes PDF transcript